I was working late a couple of weeks ago at the grocery store as a cashier.
There was kid who was maybe in 5th or 6th grade at the front end. As far as I could see, there were no guardians for this little brat around. He was skating on those heelie shoes, going really fast, back and forth across the front end, in front of the registers.
"Damn" I muttered under my breath, where the kid could not hear it. I said loud enough for the kid to hear "Hey, stop that, you're going to hurt somebody or knock over a display!"
The kid didn't hear me or pretended not to hear me. I don't have a very large amount of patience for bratty kids. I muttered something else under my breath which the kid did not hear. Was it bad judgement? Should I have been more careful? Probably, but after being there for nearly nine hours at night when I'm used to working a morning shift I felt like I was about to pass out from tiredness and that little brat was wearing on my last nerve.
I realized then I had a customer, a teenager. He had an angry look on his face. I realized he must be the kid's older brother. I told him I was going to have to talk to my manager about banning those shoes because they were dangerous.
They left together. About fifteen minutes later my managers get a call that I cussed out the young child. I didn't do anything like that! I muttered some things under my breath that the child did not hear, and that's usually not even how I am, but I certainly didn't cuss out the child. I'm just not that kind of person. The mother, who wasn't even there, apparently believed the highly exaggerated story the teenager had passed onto her.
I told my manager that I was really concerned that the kid was going to run into an old lady or old man for that matter, and either cause them to die or end up in a nursing home, or injure themself, or knock over displays. I truthfully told them that I did NOT cuss the child out. They believed me because they know I don't do that kind of thing.
Anyway the manager told me the mother wanted her to call her back so to stay quiet and listen. She put the call on speakerphone. She said "Ma'am, I talked to our cashier and she said she was concerned about someone getting hurt with your child skating through the store and that's why she asked him to stop." The mother then said "They are NOT SKATES! They are SHOES with WHEELS!"
The manager rolled her eyes and I grinned at that but had to fight to keep from laughing. Thankfully I did. I mean, what's the difference? There's no functional difference between a child zooming back and forth across the front end on heelies or on roller skates!
The mother went on "He comes in there with those shoes ALL THE TIME, and NO ONE has EVER said ANYTHING about them!"
I was thinking at this point, maybe someone should have.
I really wanted to ask that woman what was wrong with her that she thought it was ok for the kid to be skating around a store like that, but of course I had to keep quiet as I technically wasn't even supposed to be there.
She then said "There is NO SIGN saying he can't wear them in there. If you don't want him to wear them, PUT UP A SIGN!"
The manager of course apologized to her again and hung up and told me basically she thought the woman was being ridiculous but of course she told me to try to be careful how I tell people stuff even though she knew that I didn't actually cuss the kid out. She said from now on if I see a dangerous situation like that to just call a manager to deal with it.
There was kid who was maybe in 5th or 6th grade at the front end. As far as I could see, there were no guardians for this little brat around. He was skating on those heelie shoes, going really fast, back and forth across the front end, in front of the registers.
"Damn" I muttered under my breath, where the kid could not hear it. I said loud enough for the kid to hear "Hey, stop that, you're going to hurt somebody or knock over a display!"
The kid didn't hear me or pretended not to hear me. I don't have a very large amount of patience for bratty kids. I muttered something else under my breath which the kid did not hear. Was it bad judgement? Should I have been more careful? Probably, but after being there for nearly nine hours at night when I'm used to working a morning shift I felt like I was about to pass out from tiredness and that little brat was wearing on my last nerve.
I realized then I had a customer, a teenager. He had an angry look on his face. I realized he must be the kid's older brother. I told him I was going to have to talk to my manager about banning those shoes because they were dangerous.
They left together. About fifteen minutes later my managers get a call that I cussed out the young child. I didn't do anything like that! I muttered some things under my breath that the child did not hear, and that's usually not even how I am, but I certainly didn't cuss out the child. I'm just not that kind of person. The mother, who wasn't even there, apparently believed the highly exaggerated story the teenager had passed onto her.
I told my manager that I was really concerned that the kid was going to run into an old lady or old man for that matter, and either cause them to die or end up in a nursing home, or injure themself, or knock over displays. I truthfully told them that I did NOT cuss the child out. They believed me because they know I don't do that kind of thing.
Anyway the manager told me the mother wanted her to call her back so to stay quiet and listen. She put the call on speakerphone. She said "Ma'am, I talked to our cashier and she said she was concerned about someone getting hurt with your child skating through the store and that's why she asked him to stop." The mother then said "They are NOT SKATES! They are SHOES with WHEELS!"
The manager rolled her eyes and I grinned at that but had to fight to keep from laughing. Thankfully I did. I mean, what's the difference? There's no functional difference between a child zooming back and forth across the front end on heelies or on roller skates!
The mother went on "He comes in there with those shoes ALL THE TIME, and NO ONE has EVER said ANYTHING about them!"
I was thinking at this point, maybe someone should have.
I really wanted to ask that woman what was wrong with her that she thought it was ok for the kid to be skating around a store like that, but of course I had to keep quiet as I technically wasn't even supposed to be there.
She then said "There is NO SIGN saying he can't wear them in there. If you don't want him to wear them, PUT UP A SIGN!"
The manager of course apologized to her again and hung up and told me basically she thought the woman was being ridiculous but of course she told me to try to be careful how I tell people stuff even though she knew that I didn't actually cuss the kid out. She said from now on if I see a dangerous situation like that to just call a manager to deal with it.
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